Rebuilding Nepal, four years after the quake

Three-quarters of destroyed homes are either fully rebuilt or being repaired after Nepal’s devastating 2015 earthquake. But gaps in government assistance show that a full recovery may never materialize.

[...]

For years, the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), tasked with reconstructing more than 800,000 damaged homes and other buildings, has struggled to make progress.

[...]

Four monsoon seasons and frigid Himalayan winters after the quake, the NRA finally made significant headway, according to its records. The agency’s website states that more than 415,000 houses are completely rebuilt and that reconstruction has begun on another 26% of houses. The cost to rebuild every house damaged by the earthquake is estimated to be about $7 billion.

However, despite the rapid uptick in reconstruction, serious delays and gaps in assistance remain.

[...]

Some research suggests that Nepal may be prone to similarly destructive earthquakes every 75 years. Such an earthquake struck the area in 1934, killing about 20,000 people. Now, there’s an emphasis on making reconstructed buildings earthquake-resistant.

[...]